A pair of interesting cow-related stories in the news this week…

The first story comes from Vietnam, where seven cows wandered onto a Danang runway, delaying two flights and cancelling two others. The cows belonged to army units in the area and had broken free from their corrals. (via VP)

The second story involves a two-headed calf. In this rare physical anomaly, the calf was born with two faces,one brain, and three eyes. When the calf eats with one side of his mouth, the other moves as well. “Little Bud” would likely have died shortly after birth, but 17-year-old Bethany Goodermote took care of the newborn calf. Most calves with this deformity die, but Little Bud is doing well a month later and may survive, doctors say. (via OS)

Good news: according to Habitat for Horses, Nevada has extended the deadline from today to February 5th. Thusfar, over 600 of the 800 horses have been adopted/saved. Looks like the efforts of the horse rescue organizations are really paying off!

Female Providers: Researchers Begin to Doubt Early Man’s Hunting Role

According to some new anthropological research, the idea of early man hunting to provide food for his family may not be all that accurate. “The key roles in nourishing the evolution of people’s ancestors may have been played by females—mothers and grandmothers.”

In addition, the idea that high-protein meat eating is what helped mankind’s brain evolve may also be incorrect. “I think the brain change associated with meat-eating is overrated,” says James O’Connell, director of the Archaeological Center at the University of Utah. Rather, various finds lead researchers to believe the high risk and low return of hunting large game only paid off once a month or so, not enough to feed a family. Hunting may have been done more to elevate social status within a tribe rather than provide the main food source for a family.

It’s an interesting criticism of conventional wisdom that early man hunted meat to provide for his family, when in reality it’s possible that neither meat nor man played nearly as important of a role as initially thought.

Clock ticks on national effort to rescue horses

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that 800 wild horses roaming public land in Nevada are scheduled to be slaughtered by Thursday if they aren’t claimed. The United Equine Foundation and more than a dozen other horse rescue organizations are trying to get people to adopt these wild horses and save them from death. Hopefully they’ll be successful and can find homes for the majority of the horses.

More information is available at Habitat for Horses.

Can you crochet, knit, quilt, or sew? If so, why not donate a little time to the Snuggles Project, which makes an effort to donate comfortable blankets to pets kept at animal shelters. It sounds like a great project than can bring some happiness and comfort to the animals locked away while they await adoption (or something else not so pleasant to think about). A full list of participating agencies is included as well as general size guidelines. It sounds like a great program that gives you another way to make a difference in an animal’s life. (via Daily Peril)

A Long Island teeanger admitted to burning his pet family’s parakeet to death on New Year’s Eve. He sprayed the bird with hairspray and then lit it on fire, holding the bird’s carcass up and posing for pictures afterwards and then taking the bird to another party to show it off. The teen’s been charged with animal abuse and he admits that “it was probably the stupidest thing that [he’s] ever done in [his] life.” (via OS)

Vegan Porn pointed out an interesting game in development: Steer Madness. The game is about “a steer who barely escaped the slaughterhouse.” You can “[e]xplore the city, interact with other characters, and play though the missions to save the environment and your fellow animals.” The game is non-violent, so I’m curious to see how enjoyable the end product really is (this is not to say a game has to be violent to fun…).

This screenshot amused me the most.